MJBiz - August 2023 - 41

Sublime bandmates and the estate of
front man Bradley Nowell, who died of
a heroin overdose in 1996.
The band was straight from Long
Beach, just like Top Shelf Cultivation, a
licensed operator that grows strains for
the Reefer brand. Its legacy cultivators
also grew marijuana for Sublime back
in the day.
" It was very important right out of
the gate that whatever we put forth
is done with people that are truly the
artists in this industry, " Taft said.
fuse his love of blunts with his early
experiences of consuming cannabis.
" It's human nature to reminisce
on times gone, and it can be a very
positive experience to have something
remind you of an earlier point in your
life, " he added.
" That's what we tried to do with 1988. "
BAG IT, TAG IT
Cannabis entrepreneur George Sadler
has similar memories of procuring a
strain called Band-aid Buds as a young
adult in Oregon-and the ritual of
loading a triple chamber bong with
friends while watching Pink Floyd's
" The Wall " on laser disc.
Years later, Sadler and his
management team set out to create
brands that allowed consumers to have
fun with cannabis.
At one brainstorming session, his
son, Cody, now 32, came up with the
brand name Baggie Buds.
The flower is packaged in clear
baggies, with the brand name on
the bag in hand-drawn black magic
marker font.
A SECONDHAND EMOTION
Sublime was formed in 1988, the same
year rapper and Grammy Awardwinner
Big Daddy Kane started
introducing references to blunts in his
performances.
That influence more than 30 years
later-and a few decades of smoking
blunts-helped Neil Hagen spark the
1988 blunt brand for Phoenix-based
multistate operator 4Front Ventures.
" Cannabis is a very emotional thing, "
said Hagen, 4Front's supply-chain
director who fondly remembers those
hazy days with childhood friends in
suburban Detroit.
The 1988 line of flavored blunts
launched in February at 4Front's
Mission Dispensaries in Massachusetts.
For compliance, 4Front's versions are
tobacco-free, a new spin on an old
favorite.
" A lot of my memories are tied to
cannabis, " said Hagen, who aimed to
mjbizdaily.com | August 2023 41
" In my time, that's how I used to get
weed-and, if you were lucky, it was a
Ziploc bag, " recalled Sadler, the CEO
and co-founder of the San Diego-based
brand, which is distributed throughout
California.
He's seen a resurgence in consumers
seeking quality flower and purchasing
bongs, and his brands are trying to
meet them there.
" What we're trying to do is give an
experience with everything, " Sadler
added.
" I just hope we can continue to bring
those experiences to the table, especially
for the younger people to have
these experiences we had when we
were younger. "
HIP-HOP AND HEADBANGERS
The entertainment industry,
particularly streaming services and
podcasts, have gone all in on nostalgia
the past few years, introducing
younger audiences to characters, music
and imagery that captured the zeitgeist
of their day.
In some ways, Heavy Metal
Entertainment and Death Row Records
are doing the same.
The iconic West Coast label has
released a selection of OG strains in
the California market under its newly
established Death Row Cannabis brand,
which just launched a line of pre-rolls,
all priced at less than $50 an eighth.
The brand is not only trying to appeal
to a younger audience but also aiming
to win over fans who were young adults
when Dr. Dre's " The Chronic " and
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